Karen Briggs
Treasured childhood memories have instilled in me a passion for the traditional...from growing flowers for crockery on a farm table, to using handmade shawls and afghans. I have combined that passion with modern aesthetics to develop a line of pottery and fiber that appeals to my contemporary senses while satisfying my love of anything reminiscent of my childhood.
I fell "under the spell" in 1998 and after countless pottery classes, stepped outside my comfort zone in 2002 to establish my own studio. My pieces are thrown or hand built one at a time from stoneware clay and fired to cone 6 in an electric kiln. I personally make my own glazes to be food safe, non-toxic and highly durable, making my pottery fully functional. I also create “Art for the Gardener” and specialize in Ikebana Flower Bowls. In 2015 my husband and I expanded the pottery studio to include other art forms – wood for him, fiber for 
me.
Memberships include Foothills Craft Guild, Terra Madre (a group of local women working in clay), and the Arts and Culture Alliance of Knoxville. My pottery and fiber work can be found at Ijams Nature Center's Gift Shop, and at the Appalachian Arts Craft Center Shop.
My husband and I have six grown children, ten grandchildren, three miniature dachshunds, a basset hound and a 1930 Model A. My favorite quote is by Joseph Campbell and says it all - "Follow your bliss" - which is what I try to do, whether creating in the studio, working in the garden, enjoying the grandkids, or resting on the porch with a book and the dogs, MacKenzie, Claire, Zorro & Dixie.
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